Wild Chapter 1
by lukadarkwater
Summary: Looking for a way past his writers block, Rythian venters to his brothers cabin to spend some time away from it all. Yet, the girl he finds there may be more than he can handle. Zoethian
1. Chapter 1

Rythian felt the phone buzz in his pocket and so he reached down to check who the message was from.  
He instantly regretted this as he saw it was a text from his publisher, saying the same thing she had been saying for weeks now.  
"Hey Rythian! Just wanted to check in on how the manuscript is coming! Remember, the deadline is in two months!"  
He slid the phone back into his pocket and slumped in his seat, wondering just how things had gotten to this point. His first book had gone so well! He had written it within six months and it had been published and well received. Feeling confident that he could do the same thing again, he had signed on for another book, with the deadline being just six months from the signing. However, nothing had worked out as planned.  
No matter how hard he tried, he just could not seem to find any inspiration. He had tried all of his normal processes: reading his favorite series, listening to music, going on walks around his neighborhood and town, but nothing seemed to be working. He had begun to panic. How could anyone write a book in just two months, let alone someone whose creativity seemed to have vanished?  
So when his brother had offered to let him use his cabin for the summer, Rythian had jumped at the chance. He had hoped the drastic change of scenery would spark his old creative juices and that the secluded location of the small house would keep him focused.  
His brother had warned him that it was just a small house; one room with a bathroom, but Rythian didn't mind. After all, it was only himself and his pet gecko Teep, who would be staying in the cabin.  
His gecko sat watching him from his small travel cage by the window as he mulled over these thoughts. The tiny lizard was the perfect travel companion, he never talked nor did he require the care and attention that dogs and cats needed. Rythian had owned the lizard for about a year now, and had grown quite fond of the little thing.  
He was pulled from his musings as the train began to slow and the attendant's voice sounded overhead: "Now arriving at Blackrock station, all passengers exiting at this stop please gather your belongings and wait till the train has come to a complete stop before exiting the train. Railbrothers Rails thanks you for riding with us today!"  
Rythian looked out the window and took in his new town for the next couple of months. As his brother had warned him, there was really nothing to it. As far as he could see, it was just a one-lane town surrounded by a ring of hills covered in forests. The station, and the town itself, were named after the crumbling ruins of an old castle that sat next to the lake just past the town. No one knew the original name of the castle, but it had been dubbed "Blackrock" because of the strange black stone that had been used to build it.  
The train screeched to a halt, and Rythian grasped his belongs and exited the train. He walked out onto the platform and was greeted by the small building that acted as Blackrock station. It wasn't much to look at, but this was where he had been told he could meet the man who would be able to give him a ride out to the cabin.  
"Hello there! Are you Mr. Enderborn, sir?"  
Rythian turned around and saw a black haired man wearing glasses waving at him from the grass by the station.  
"Yes, hello. Are you Mr. Pool?"  
"Just call me Nilesy." The man said, shaking Rythian's hand "Everyone does. Now then, are you all set to head out to the cabin?"  
Rythian nodded  
"Perfect! Just hop in here and we will be on our way!"  
The cabin was set in a small clearing about a 15 minute drive outside of town. His brother had arranged for Nilesy to drive him out there to spare the walk.  
"It's a good thing your brother did as well." Nilesy said, pulling out of the main road in town and onto the dirt road to the cabin.  
"Oh? Why?"  
Nilesy looked around edgily "There has been some strange rumors about these here woods, Rythian."  
"Strange rumors?"  
"Aye, rumors of a wild banshee that only comes out after dark and eats human flesh!"  
Rythian snorted, "Let me guess, it lives at that old castle?"  
"Aye! Rumor has it that a couple of kids saw it climbing around on the ruins just a couple of nights ago."  
"Well, I am sure I will be just fine in my cabin."  
"I suppose so, but I would recommend not going out after dark, you never know what you might find."  
"I will keep that in mind," Rythian said, his tone dripping with sarcasm.  
"You best, if you know what's good for ya." Nilesy said, "Ah, here we are!"  
He pulled his car up in front of the cabin. It really was just as small as his brother had descried it. It had a small wooden door with a window on either side and a metal chimney rising up from its wooden roof.  
"Do you need me to show you around?" Nilesy asked, grabbing his suitcase out of the backseat.  
"No, I think I will be just fine. Thank you for the ride."  
"No problem. If you ever need anything, I'm just a short jog up the road. I don't expect that your phone will work out here."  
"No, I doubt it as well."Rythian said, secretly glad to be free of any painful reminders for the next couple of months.  
"Well, I'll be getting on then. Have a nice stay and I will be back in two months time to give you a ride back to the station."  
Rythian waved goodbye as Nilesy drove off down the road and then turned back to face the house.  
"Well, Teep," he said to the lizard by his feet, "Shall we see our new home?"  
The lizard gave no reply, but instead looked off into the trees to the right of the house. Rythian followed his gaze, but saw nothing out of the ordinary. Ignoring a slight prickle on the back of his neck, he picked up Teep and his suitcase and walked through the door.  
The smell of mothballs and wood assaulted his nose as he walked in, causing him to sneeze rather violently before taking in the room before him.  
It was going to be tight; to his right was a small kitchen with an iron stove and a small sink squeezed right up next to a small corner table and chairs. To his left was a small couch and one chair that faced a fireplace and shoved in the back left corner was a double bed and nightstand. There was a window on the wall next to the bed and a door leading to the tiny shower/toilet bathroom in the right hand corner.  
Yet, despite its size, Rythian found the cabin cozy. It was a place that looked like something out of a story and that was just what he needed. He placed Teep's cage on the small table that stood next to the couch and opened up one of the front windows to try and let some fresh air in.  
The little cabin had running water, electricity, and air conditioning but no heating or means of talking to the outside world. Rythian was more alone in the little house than he had ever been in his life.  
Except for the small gecko, he would have almost no one to talk to for the next eight weeks.  
Exhausted after his journey, Rythian fell down onto the couch and closed his eyes. He would just sit for a minute and then unpack and start writing…  
Creeeek  
Rythian woke with a start as the creepy sound cut through the evening's dying light.  
He looked around, disoriented, wondering what the sound was and why it was so dark in the room. He glanced down at his watch and realized that it had been nearly two hours since he had sat down and the day was giving way to night.  
Crreeek  
The sound cut through the air again, and Rythian whirled around, searching for the source, his head flooded with thoughts of the tale Nilesy had told him earlier that day.  
He could see nothing though, just the window he had left open earlier. However, as he watched, a breeze blew against the window and elicited the very noise that had awakened him. Cursing his jumpiness, he walked over and shut the silly thing, before flipping on the single light in the cabin and flooding the dark room with sparse light.  
He then went about packing his things away into the chest that stood between the bed and the bathroom door. As he was crossing the room however, he saw a strange thing on the ground.  
Upon further inspection, it turned out to be a bit of stone braided into a woven grass necklace. It was a strange rock, the shape somehow reminiscent of a mushroom, and Rythian wondered how it had gotten into the cabin.  
He once again felt a strange prickle on his neck and looked up and out at the forest. The shadows were long now, their pointy hands clawing towards the cabin and threatening to engulf everything in their path. He shook his head, the lack of sleep and Nilesy's story were just getting to him. Everything would look better after a nice shower and rest.  
He quickly put the rest of his things away and, after a quick shower, lay down in bed to try and sleep off whatever was messing with him.  
He lay in the sheets and listened to all the night sounds; the settling of the house, Teep burrowing down into his shavings, the various bugs and frogs that sang outside. It was calming to the man and shortly after closing his eyes, he was asleep.  
He never could explain what had awoken just a few hours later: be it some sound, the fresh air from the window, or just simply the feeling of there being someone else in the room, all he knew was that he was awake and he wasn't the only person in the cabin anymore.  
He watched through half closed eyes as the figure moved slowly around the room, obviously searching for something. He couldn't make out much in the small amount of moonlight that crept into the room, but the figure was definitely human.  
It came closer and closer to him, being careful not to make any noise, and Rythian felt his heart rate increase with each step it took.  
His hand carefully reached out to the book lying on his bedside table. He picked it up and slipped it under the covers, ready to defend himself lest the intruder try anything.  
The creature came to a halt just before the end of his bed. Every muscle in Rythian's body was tense as he waited for it to move close enough for him to do something.  
The thing seemed to sense that going any closer would not be good, however, and crept around the bed getting no closer to it. It reached his bedside table and then seemed to become very excited.  
The shadow quickly grabbed the stone necklace off of the wooden surface and slipped it around its neck.  
Then it quietly turned to go. Rythian spotted his chance and jumped out of bed with a wild yell.  
The creature gave a start and raced for the open window. Rythian ran after it, brandishing his book like a sword.  
The creature jumped out of the window and Rythian followed suit. It ran towards the woods and down a small deer trail.  
Rythian tried his best to keep up with it, but it obviously knew the trails much better than he did and the branches and roots kept tripping him up as he went.  
Finally, after what felt like miles, he burst out into an open area. He stopped to catch his breath, having lost sight of the shadow, and looked around. He stood at the edge of a grassy meadow that had what looked like a large boulder on the side across from him. Yet, on closer inspection, he figured out that it was in fact the remains of Blackrock castle.  
A chill went up his spine as he remembered what Nilesy had said, "Aye, they say it lives in the ruins of Blackrock."  
Could this thing that had broken into his house be that creature?  
He scoffed at himself; surely it was just a myth. Nothing lived in the ruins except for wild animals. No human in his or her right mind would live there.  
He crept closer to the rocks, as if trying to convince himself they were empty. He came close enough to touch and then stopped. He looked around, half expecting something to pop out at him, but nothing happened.  
With a sigh, having given up on finding the creature, he turned to go.  
"AYYYEEEE!"  
Rythian crashed to the ground as a rope snapped his feet out from under him. He had just enough time to roll onto his back before a large form landed on top of him.  
"What the –" he was cut off as he felt something sharp press against his throat.  
"What do you want?" A voice questioned  
Rythian was shocked to find that the voice was female. He squinted, trying to make out any features, but all he got was that she was wearing her hair up.  
"Umm-"  
"I said, what do you want!" the girl poked his neck again, leaning down over him.  
"You- you broke into my house! That's what!" He cried  
"You stole from Barry! No one steals from Barry!"  
"Who is Barry? I found that necklace in my house and-"  
"Hush!" She said, cutting off his attempt to speak by pressing her knife closer to his throat. She then raised her head, looking around her alertly. Then, without another word, she jumped off of him and raced back into the trees.  
Rythian scrambled to his feet, and raced back towards the house. The shadows seemed to loom out at him as he ran, and he didn't feel safe until he had shut and locked all the doors and windows in the house.  
He collapsed on the couch, wondering what exactly he had gotten himself into by moving to the cabin.

_**Authors Notes:**_

_**So, yesterday on Tumblr the best AU ever was invented. If you want to see the post it came from, here it is: post/56…  
And here are some more posts on it: post/56998…  
post…  
Anyway, so I basically fell super hard for this AU and have decided to try my hand at writing a fic on it. Here is the first of multipul chapters I hope you enjoy  
Thanks to Midnightlupus for betaing!**_


	2. Chapter 2

When dawn finally broke, it found Rythian still up and keeping watch. After coming back from his encounter with the wild girl in the forest the night before, he had flipped his sofa around so he could see every possible entrance to the cabin and had resigned himself to waiting out the night. He had nodded off a few times during his watch, but each time he'd been snapped out of his sleep by horrible dreams of running through an endless forest filled with horrible shadows chasing after him.  
As dawn began to stretch out its fingers into the dark cabin, Rythian pulled himself up from the sofa and shuffled over to where the coffee pot sat on his small counter. He had thanked all the powers that be many times that night that coffee had been invented and that the cabin wasn't so outdated that it had the power to run a coffee brewer.  
After making his fourth cup of coffee, Rythian sat down next to Teep's cage, sighing and running his fingers through his hair.  
"What are we going to do, Teep?" He asked the small gecko.  
Teep's only reply was to slightly raise his head and look at his owner before promptly turning back to stare out at the forest.  
The man hadn't been able to figure out why, but the lizard had been staring out into the woods ever since he had returned. He showed little interest in anything Rythian did, but he would sometimes stiffen and shuffle about in his cage before eventually settling back down into his former position.  
Seeing no help incoming from his only company, Rythian sat back and put his hands over his face.  
This was not at all what he had signed up for. He had thought that the cabin would be a perfect place; free of all distractions and full of inspiration for his writing. Yet, he was quickly coming to realize that he would never have peace again if he didn't deal with the girl in the woods.  
That was another thing that he had been pondering during the night. Who was that girl? Why was she in the forest? Why did she have a knife? And why did she want the necklace so badly?  
These questions had swirled around in his head for so long that he thought he might be sick, but no answers were forthcoming. He had no idea who the girl was or what she was doing breaking into peoples' houses and threatening them with knives, but he knew he had to get to the bottom of it.  
He quickly showered off in a useless effort to wake himself up, and began preparing to go on a hunt for the girl he had seen the night before.  
He scarfed down some toast, fed Teep, and then stood at the door, trying to force himself to exit. As he was gathering his nerves, his eyes fell on the iron fire poker by the fireplace. He hesitated for a moment, but finally decided to grab it just in case he ran into the girl and she threated him again. It wasn't much, but it was an improvement over what he'd had the night before.  
The feel of the cool iron steadied him as he walked over the threshold and into the small clearing around the cabin. He held it up by his side, ready to use it should anything pop out at him, but nothing moved in the woods except the warm breeze through the green trees.  
He located the path that he had followed the girl down the night before and cautiously began to tread down its narrow twisting route. More and more light began to leak through the trees as the sun rose higher, and the path before him underwent a startling transformation.  
By night, it had seemed to Rythian to be full of snaring roots that loved to reach out and grab his ankles. A horribly twisting path lined with snarling monsters ready to reach out and gobble him up. Yet, by day, it didn't appear to even be the same path.  
It was lined by lovely tall trees filled with bright green leaves that caught the light from the rising sun as they swayed in the breeze and cast soft shadows on the ground before him.  
It was very calming and, slowly, Rythian began to forget his terror from the night before. In fact, by the time he reached the ruins of the old castle, he was starting to feel rather silly about bringing the iron poker along at all.  
The sun had the same effect on the ruins as it'd had on the forest. By night, the castle had seemed to be something straight out of the Devil's home with its jagged black walls, but now, it seemed to be just what it was: an old run down building.  
He walked up to the walls, feeling foolish for being so scared before, and tapped his foot against the side of the black rock.  
"What was I afraid of? An old crumbling building and a girl? What kind of person am I?" He laughed out loud and turned to go, but a loud scream cut through the early morning air.  
Rythian whirled around just in time to see a flock of birds rise up from the direction of the scream. They flew over his head, their panicked cries sending chills up his spine. Whatever they were flying away from, he doubted it was human.  
Another cry rang through the air, this time followed by a horrible roar.  
Swallowing a curse, Rythian ran towards the source of the sounds. No matter what, he knew that there was a person in trouble over there and he had to do something about it.  
He raced through the trees before stopping behind one and peering around its trunk. At first, he didn't know what he was looking at. It appeared to him to be a huge mound of some sort of brown fur, until the thing reared up and he saw it for what it really was: a bear.  
Despite the fact that he should have been afraid of a large, apparently very mad, bear, Rythian couldn't help but feel relief wash over him that it was something normal and not a creature from his nightmares.  
The bear smashed its claws down on a fallen tree before it and Rythian once more heard the fearful cry of a human.  
He strained his eyes and saw movement from underneath the trunk of the tree. Cold fear rushed through him as he realized that the person was trapped underneath the tree with the only way out blocked by the bear.  
Rythian's mind raced, trying to find some way to free the person, but he didn't know how he could get the bear to move without being mauled himself. He glanced around and saw a good-sized rock on the ground. Thinking maybe he could draw the creature away from the tree long enough for him to rescue the human, he chucked it deep into the woods on his right and was rewarded with a large whack.  
The bear snorted and raised its head, looking in the direction of the noise. But when it didn't hear anything else, it turned its attention back to the tree. It raised its claw and slashed at the trunk, causing the whole thing to shake and gouging the wood even deeper than it already was.  
Rythian knew that time was running short and he had run out of safe ideas. He gripped the poker in his hand and took a deep breath, cursing himself for what he was about to do.  
Then, he raised his makeshift weapon over his head and charged out from behind the tree with a wild cry. The bear turned around, startled at the noise while Rythian swung the poker through the air, crying all the while "Get! Out! Of! Here! You! Stupid! Bear!"  
The bear roared in confusion but quickly turned and fled, unsure of how to deal with the crazy human before him.  
Rythian did not stop waving the poker around until the bear was long out of sight. Then, he collapsed to his knees, feeling weak from relief that he still had all of his limbs attached to him. He was pulled from his reprieve by the sounds of the trapped person climbing out from their prison behind him.  
"Are you ok-" he stopped mid-sentence as he took in the person, the girl, emerging from the tree behind him.  
The first thing he noticed about her was that she had bright, long, red hair pulled up into a ponytail that tumbled over her shoulder. The next thing he noticed was that she was dressed very strangely. She wore a sort of grass skirt over her legs and a strange wrap made out of similar material to her skirt covered her chest and what looked like war paint stripped her cheeks.  
She held onto her left arm with her right and Rythian was shocked to see red blood dripping down from the spot under her hand.  
"What happened?! Are you-"  
He had been making a move towards her, but she stopped him by pulling out a knife from the waistband of her skirt.  
"You!" He exclaimed, "You're the girl from last night!"  
The girl narrowed her eyes at him. "What do you want here?"  
"I just saved your life! Why are you threatening me!?"  
"Put down your weapon." She said, pointing with her knife at his poker.  
"Fine," he said and slowly leaned down to put the poker on the grass at his feet. "Happy?"  
"Hmm," she said, but then Rythian noticed something.  
Her breathing was ragged and her eyes were glazed with pain. The wound to her arm must be even more serious than he had first thought.  
"Listen," he said, in his most reasonable voice. "Let me help you with your wounds, ok?"  
"Why would I trust you?"  
"If I had wanted harm to come to you, I would have let the bear go ahead and eat you. I risked my own life to save you, why would I turn around and hurt you?"  
"I don't- I-" The knife slipped from her grip and she collapsed onto the ground.  
Rythian rushed over as she hit the ground and saw that she had passed out. Her hand had also slipped from covering the wound and he winced as he saw three deep cuts slicing through her upper arm.  
He knew he needed to get them cleaned and bound up fast before she lost too much blood, so he lifted her up onto his back and began the trek back to his cabin.  
The girl was surprisingly light and he made good time back to the cabin, but he was still out of breath when he arrived.  
He laid her on the sofa and then quickly grabbed the first aid kit out of one of the cabinets and began to work on her wounds. He cleaned each one, thankful she wasn't awake because he was sure she would have been fighting him the whole time, and then wrapped each in a clean bandage.  
As he worked, he wondered yet again about who this girl was and what she was doing out in the forest that day. She looked to be around the same age as him yet it looked as though she possibly lived in the forest from her strange clothes and the way she acted. Yet, she could speak perfect English and seemed to be aware of what was happening around her, even if she did react strangely to it.  
He cut off the excess bandage on the last wrap and then spread an old blanket that had been on the back of the couch over her. Teep, who had been quite started by the entry of his owner and the strange girl, had been watching over the whole process from his cage.  
"What am I going to do, Teep?" he asked the gecko, and of course got only a blink for a reply.  
With a sigh, he got up and decided to make some food. He was hungry and she would need something to eat once she awoke.  
He put a pot of the stove and began to cut up the vegetables and seasonings he would need to make soup and then set it on to simmer while he waited for the girl to wake up.  
After almost an hour, she finally began to stir.  
Rythian was sitting in the chair next to the couch, waiting for the girl to awaken when she sat up looking very confused.  
"Ah so you are-" He was cut off as she leapt at him and pinned him to the chair with her arm across his neck.  
"Where am I? Where have you taken me!"  
"I- fix-arm-cabin." He managed to say  
She shot a look at her arm and then moved her eyes slowly around the cabin.  
"Can't- breathe-" he gasped  
She gave him a sharp look but slowly removed her arm and stepped back from the chair.  
Rythian gasped as air rushed into his lungs, and bent over in a coughing fit.  
"You did this?" the girl demanded, shoving her bandaged arm into his face.  
He nodded and said "There is also food for you over there," he pointed to where the soup was being kept warm on the stove.  
She cautiously inspected it and then took a tentative sip of the soup.  
"It's good!"  
"Well of course! I'm not totally helpless. Now then, I have some things I would like to ask you-"  
"Is this your pet?" the girl asked, leaning down to look at Teep and completely ignoring the man.  
He sighed but said, "Yes, this is Teep, my gecko."  
"Well, hello there!" she said to the lizard that looked up at her with interest. "I'm Zoey, it's nice to meet you!"  
"So that is your name!" Rythian exclaimed, glad to know what she was called at last.  
Zoey glared at him, "I wasn't talking to you, I was talking to Teep."  
"Fair enough, now then, I have some questions to ask you."  
Zoey looked at him warily, "What kind of questions?"  
"Well, for starters, who are you?"  
Zoey's eyes left his and she looked at the ground. Rythian was startled in the sudden change in the girl. She looked so open and defenseless, so unlike the person who had held a knife to his throat only twenty-four hours before.  
Then, very faintly, she whispered, "I don't know."  
"What?"  
"I have to go," she said and headed towards the door.  
"Wait!" he reached out with his hand.  
Zoey stared at it and he awkwardly kept it in the air, unsure himself what he was going to say to stop her.  
"Please. I just want to help you."  
"It seems you mean me no harm. I will be back." With that, she turned and walked out the door leaving Rythian staring out at her back, wondering if he would ever see her again.

_**Author's Notes:**_

_**Chapter 2 for all of you~ Took a little longer than I would have liked to put out but I just got my new computer and so I would like to say I was waiting to Word and such, but the truth is I've just been messing around with it for a couple of days XD But yes, here it is! Someone asked me how long they thought I would make this story, and the answer to that is I have no idea. As the story goes along I will get a better idea of how long I want it to be, but for now keep expecting chapters until I say something XD**_  
_**Thanks to Midnightlupus for editing!**_


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